In the surgical repair of soft tissue, such as, for example, the surgical reattachment of ligaments to bone or the attachment of tendon to muscle, it is known to use multi-part devices to surgically fasten the soft tissues to be repaired. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,425 to Bonutti et al. discloses surgical devices assembled using heat bondable material. The '425 patent teaches that a portion of a suture thread is inserted into an opening in a retainer formed of a plastic material. At least one portion of the retainer is heated to its melting point. The plastic material of the retainer flows around the suture thread and creates a bond with the suture thread as the plastic material cools below its melting point.
Often these surgical procedures are performed endoscopically. Endoscopic procedures typically require the surgeon to perform the procedure through a very small opening which requires particular dexterity. One disadvantage of the device disclosed by the '425 patent is that the surgeon must maintain tension on the retainer while simultaneously heat bonding the retainer to the suture, a sometimes difficult procedure.
It would therefore be an advantage to provide a device that would hold the suture thread when the suture thread is pulled taut through the device. Thus, the surgeon would not have to simultaneously maintain tension on the retainer while heat bonding the retainer to the suture thread because the retainer holds the suture thread and maintains tension when the suture thread is pulled taut. This device, therefore, better enables the surgeon to perform surgical procedures through the small openings typically encountered in endoscopic procedures.